Chase Elliott joining Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports produces a mix of two big names in the motorsports world combined with a sponsor whose NASCAR roots also include a history with the Earnhardt family.

So while the deal for Elliott to race in the Nationwide Series for JRM next year revolved around an 18-year-old driver, the deal is steeped in history.

Elliott is the son of 1988 Cup champion Bill Elliott, a 44-time winner on the Cup circuit and a 16-time winner of the series’ most popular driver award until 2003 when he pulled his name from consideration for the award.

Now the younger Elliott will drive for a team co-owned by two of the children of seven-time Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Cup team owner Rick Hendrick.

“I don't think that Chase or (other young drivers such as) Ryan Blaney or Jeb Burton or anybody else has to live up to their what fathers accomplished on track,” JRM co-owner Kelley Earnhardt Miller said. “The most important thing to me is to stand up for the character and integrity that they had as people because I think that's what will be most remembered (for a) long time.

“But the success is always great, to kind of have that in your pocket as well.”

While many young drivers wrestle with the pressure of a family legacy, Elliott is embracing part of it by driving the No. 9 that his father raced from 1977-1991 and again from 2001-2003.

“The No. 9 for me, that kind of all started, obviously the '80s — the late '80s for my dad was a little before my time, but the 2001, 2002 Evernham days (with my dad) is kind of where I gained my liking for the No. 9, and that's kind of why I've always stuck with it,” Chase Elliott said.

Earnhardt Miller had no qualms with Elliott driving the number made famous by his father. JRM co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. drove the No. 8 for several years, which was the number of his grandfather when he drove on the Carolina short tracks. Earnhardt now drives a No. 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports.

The Earnhardt children have been supportive of their father’s No. 3 returning to Cup this year with Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon.

“It gives the opportunity for the newer generations of the sport to learn more about the history of our sport, and just like the question was asked for Chase of what the 9 means to him, he'll be able to tell that story probably time and time again over the course of his career,” Earnhardt Miller said.

“With Austin in the 3, I've been a big supporter of that for the same reason, because it will continue those stories about my dad and his success in the sport and just will continue to educate future generations about the sport. I think it's real important that those historical elements are tied into the sport.”

Still, with all that history going for them, the team and Hendrick Motorsports (which has Elliott under contract) had to scramble to find a full-time Nationwide sponsor.

In an ironic twist, they initially lost a potential sponsor in Aaron’s to Michael Waltrip Racing. Aaron’s had been sponsoring Elliott in other series but opted to focus on Sprint Cup with Brian Vickers at MWR. When MWR lost NAPA as a Cup sponsor over the Richmond controversy last year, it left the door open for JR Motorsports to land a sponsor for Elliott.

NAPA was a sponsor for Waltrip at Dale Earnhardt Inc. from 2001 to 2005.

“The key in this is NAPA, and I feel privileged to welcome them to my race team after working with them so extensively earlier in my career,” Earnhardt Jr. said in a news release. “I recognize — and I think Chase does, too — the responsibility that comes with representing a company so significant in the lives of NASCAR fans.”

The deal came together in the last 30 days.

“It was getting towards the end of the year, and things weren't really … we weren't real sure what we were going to be doing,” Elliott said. “So at that point for a driver, your confidence level moving into the next year isn't very good as far as what you're going to be doing.

“For me, obviously, I was a little worried about what I was going to be doing but at the same time make the most of whatever it was. But this is by far the best-case scenario, and fortunately it worked out for us.”

Earnhardt Miller said she believes most teams tried to land the NAPA sponsorship after the company announced it was leaving MWR after last season. The last names involved in the JRM-Elliott deal didn’t hurt.

“There's already the integrity built into that name that we all stand for, our last name, your surname,” Earnhardt Miller said. “And people can look back at that and know — they can kind of already tell who we are and what we've come from because of that last name, because we were raised by those folks.

“That's really cool, and that's kind of what I always think of in being an Earnhardt is that there was our Papa Ralph before my dad and my dad, and we all have that name to uphold and the standards that go along with that and that we have people looking up to us from generation to generation to carry on more of the character traits for what our families believe in.”